


Congratulations, You (cos)Played Yourself

by kafuka



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, M/M, Mermen, Monster Transformation, Trapped In A Closet, Vacation, World-hopping, comedy routines, costume changes, love that trapped in a closet is a canonical tag, no battles only inconvenient feelings, sora and riku goof off and have fun as god intended, sora's monster form betrays him, tags to be added as the fic updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-28 14:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30140685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kafuka/pseuds/kafuka
Summary: Sora is finally able to take Riku on a trip to worlds he's always wanted to show him, but when it becomes more and more obvious how Riku's outfit changes are effecting him, Sora has to deal with feelings. For the Soriku Big Bang 2020!
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43
Collections: Soriku Big Bang 2020





	1. Atlantica

Sora docked the Gummi Ship in a cave behind a waterfall.

“Nice hiding spot,” Riku said, watching the curtain of water run over them through the dome window.

“It reminds me of home,” Sora said, powering the ship down. 

“You know, I was just thinking that,” Riku said and gave Sora a small smile. Sora grinned back.

“It’s also a really easy place to do the magic to turn us into mermen.” Sora said and hopped up from the pilot’s seat, hands balled into fists. “You ready?”

Riku nodded and stood. “Yeah, but… are you sure you have a good grip on this magic Donald taught you?”

“Yeah, of course I do!” Sora said, clumsily slapping at the cockpit door button to let them out into the damp cave. “I watched Donald do it a ton of times, and he just taught it to me, so it’s still fresh in my mind!”

“Yeah, he just taught it to you,” Riku said, descending the stairs after Sora. “And he only taught it to you because Goofy talked him into it. He was super mad when we showed up at the castle. He didn’t even know we were coming, did he?”

“He knew!” Sora said. “I texted him before we left the Islands.”

“Ah,” Riku said, folding his arms. “He knew about an hour before we got there.”

Sora shrugged. “He still taught me.”

“But you’ve never done it before.”

“I just did it! On that hedge I practiced on!”

“Which became a turtle.”

“Yeah, it transformed!”

“You were trying to turn it into a cow.”

Sora pouted. “I got it eventually.”

Riku sighed and shook his head, but he was smiling. “Just do me a favor and transform yourself first. I’m not going to be your first non-hedge experiment,” he said. He leaned against the side of the ship and put his hands in his pockets.

“Where’s your adventurer’s spirit?” Sora asked, throwing up his hands.

“I left it back at Disney Castle, when your second transformation spell made the hedge bleed.”

Sora sputtered. “It didn’t bleed a _lot_!”

Riku looked at him expectantly. “Do yourself first, and if it works, then you can turn me into a merman and we can start our world-hopping adventure. If it doesn’t, then I will down elixirs and cast healing spells on you until we reach Disney Castle so Donald can put your back together. Deal?”

Sora rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Deal.”

Sora sat on the edge of the pool inside the cave, closed his eyes, and raised his hand above his head. He pointed a single finger upward and used it to draw a circle of light, concentrating on the form he wanted to take. Once he closed the circle, he made a fist in the air and pulled, grabbing the light and dragging it down over his body. He felt the buzz of magic flow over him and heard Riku’s choked gasp.

Cracking open one eye, he looked down and found a blue fishtail waving at him from where his feet used to be.

“I did it!” Sora yelled, pumping his fist in the air. He turned to Riku, a huge grin on his face. “How do I look?”

“Uh,” Riku started smartly, blinking in surprise. He pushed off from the Gummiship’s wing and stumbled a little closer to Sora. “You sure did it.”

Sora laughed delightedly at Riku’s inarticulate response. “Ready for yours?”

“Um, sure.” Riku said. Sora patted the rocks next to him and Riku sat down.

“Does it feel weird?” Riku asked.

“No,” Sora said. “It feels like any other magic.”

Riku dragged his eyes back up from Sora’s tail to his face. “No, I mean having a tail instead of legs.”

“It’s a little weird at first,” Sora said, smiling and putting his hand on Riku’s shoulder. “But you get used to it quickly. And then it’s a lot of fun!”

Riku smiled. “Okay,” he said, letting his eyes slip closed. “I’m ready. Don’t mutilate me.”

“Pssh,” Sora said. “As if I could make you look worse.”

Riku reached out blindly and punched Sora in the side none-too-gently. There was a moment of slap fighting and laughter before Sora grabbed Riku’s hands and held them still as best he could. 

“I give!” Sora yelled. “Stop flailing so I don’t accidentally turn you into a horse or something.”

Riku grimaced and pulled his hands from Sora’s grasp. “Oh my God. Have you ever been a horse?”

“No,” Sora said, “but I’ve been a lion.”

Riku shook his head. “Don’t take me to that world. I only want to walk on two feet.”

“Or swim on none?”

Riku gave him a blank stare. “Sora.”

“Okay, okay,” Sora laughed. “Sit still.”

Riku stilled and shut his eyes again. Sora drew the same circle around Riku’s head, grasped it, and cast it down his body. He watched as Riku’s clothes melted away to a bare human chest and a blue fishtail in lieu of legs. 

“Nice!” Sora said.

Riku cracked open an eye and glanced nervously in Sora’s direction. “Did you do it?” He asked.

Sora gestured at Riku’s tail. “See for yourself.”

Riku slowly opened both eyes and looked down at his lap. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened, and Sora chuckled at his stunned expression. “What do you think?” He asked.

“Wow…” Riku said, dipping his tail in the water. He lifted it and let the water run off. “Sora, this is amazing.”

Sora flushed at the compliment, but smiled wider. “Aw, it was nothing.”

Riku smiled back, pushed off the rocks, and slid into the water. He went under so fast, Sora gave a little yelp and threw himself forward, sure Riku was going to drown. Riku resurfaced at the exact moment it occured to Sora that as a merman, it would be impossible for him to drown.

“Oh,” Riku said, touching a piece of hair that stuck to his face. “You made my hair long.”

Sora shrugged. “It kind of fits the whole merman thing.”

Riku nodded, apparently satisfied with that answer. He swam in a circle around the underground pool. “Are you gonna join me?”

Sora nodded. “Um, yeah, in a sec. Just take a minute to get used to your tail.”

“Okay,” Riku said and dove back under. Sora watched him swim for a few minutes in a daze.

 _Holy shit,_ Sora thought, forcing himself to look away from Riku’s slowly circling shadow. _What is it about being a merman that makes Riku so much hotter?_

Riku surfaced, water sliding off his chest and arms, slowly dragging down the dips and curves of his muscles. His hair, even wetter now, clung to his neck, shoulders and chest.

 _Ah,_ Sora thought, staring openly, _that’s it._

“Are you coming or what?” Riku asked, crossing his arms. “We’re from an island, in case you forgot. I’ve been swimming since infancy.”

Sora chuckled and smiled fondly. “I’m coming.” He pushed off the edge of the pool and slipped underwater. 

“Okay, first rule of being a merman is don’t let humans see you.” Sora said as he and Riku left the cave.

“There are humans in this world?” Riku asked. “Not just merpeople?”

“Yep.” Sora said, pointing downward to indicate they were going to dive deeper. “And they don’t really know about merpeople. Ariel told me she went up to watch humans a lot, but her father always warned her that she couldn’t let them see her or she’d get killed.”

“And her father—he’s the king of the merpeople?”

“Well, he’s the king of Atlantica, which is where all the merpeople I’ve met live.” Sora said. “But I think there are other kingdoms too? I just haven’t met anyone outside of Ariel’s family, and I never got to ask. But today I bet we’ll get to see lots of merpeople!”

“I am interested in seeing what a mermaid society looks like…” Riku said, looking off into the distance and furrowing his brow in thought. “Are we not going to meet Ariel?”

“I don’t know if she’ll be there.” Sora said. “She met someone and got married.”

“So she doesn’t live in Atlantica anymore?”

“Yeah, she lives on land now.” Sora said and laughed when Riku did a double take. “There was this whole thing with a sea witch, and long story short, she has legs now.”

“Hm,” Riku said. He turned onto his back but continued swimming, the thoughtful look back on his face. “Is it going to be a while before we reach Atlantica?”

“Yeah, probably about an hour. Why?”

Riku grinned at Sora, and Sora’s heart fluttered a little. “Then why not tell me the long version?”

*

“So Ursula was the sea witch we fought at the start of our Mark of Mastery exam?”

“Yeah, that was her, but I don’t thi—Oh, we’re here!” Over the reef in front of them stood the gates of Atlantica, the spires and pathways gleaming gold. Riku’s jaw dropped and Sora couldn’t help but chuckle. “Impressive, right?”

“You could say that,” Riku said, closing his mouth and looking away from Sora, his face burning. Sora laughed again.

They swam closer and were soon surrounded by merpeople of every kind. They joined a throng entering and exiting the city, swept along by the bustle of activity. They passed an underwater market, complete with floating food stalls.

“I’ve never eaten while down here,” Sora said, stopping to inspect some of the stalls. “Do you want to try something?”

Riku nodded. “I could eat. What kind of food do they have? Fish?”

Sora choked a little on his words. “Uh, no. Fish are like… Fish talk here.”

“Fish talk here?” Riku asked.

“Fish talk here.” Sora confirmed.

“Wow.” Riku said.

“Well, we do hang out with animal people a lot. Your dad is a mouse.” Sora said.

“My da—? How many times are you going to make that joke?” Riku said, levelling Sora with a sour look.

“As long as I find it funny!” 

“Oh, so forever. Great.”

Sora laughed obnoxiously and Riku rolled his eyes, but while doing so, caught sight of something big and light blue in the distance. “Oh! Sora, is that—?” He pointed.

Sora peered past the merpeople in his way, and when he noticed what Riku was pointing out, he turned to him in surprise. “No way.”

They grinned at each other and tore past shoppers as they swam towards the light blue sign in the distance. 

Sora managed to arrive first, since he was smaller and could thread between floating merpeople faster. Riku nearly knocked into him when he arrived a few seconds later.

“I can’t believe it.” Riku said. “How do you freeze water… underwater? Is it like putting ice in a drink? But that eventually melts into the drink.”

“I find it’s better to not think about those sorts of things.”

They grinned at each other and went to purchase their sea salt ice creams. The stall looked a lot like an ice cream seller’s cart would on land - refrigerated container on the bottom, large sign designed to look just like the ice cream on top. It didn’t include an umbrella, Sora concluded while eating his popsicle, because why would it need one underwater?

“Do you want to go see the palace up close?” Sora asked after they’d finished their popsicles and wound their way through the rest of the bazaar, looking at things but not finding anything else they wanted to eat or purchase.

“Sure,” Riku said. “It’s beautiful.” He peered at it in the distance. “Have you been inside?”

“Sort of?” Sora said, scratching his head. “It kind of doesn’t really have an inside? It’s mostly open air, er—water?”

“Does anything down here have walls?” Riku asked.

“Not that I’ve—” Sora came to an abrupt stop, and swung around, making bubbles rise around him. “Ariel!” He called.

The mermaid he called after stopped and turned, and her eyes lit up. “Sora!” she cried, and swam back towards them with her arms open. “What are you doing here? We haven’t had any trouble with Heartless lately!”

“I’m here on vacation!” Sora said, reaching out to accept Ariel’s hug. Them embraced for a moment, and when they pulled back, Sora gestured to Riku. “This is my best friend, Riku. We’re taking some time off and I’m showing him worlds I’ve been to.”

Ariel smiled sweetly and reached out to shake Riku’s hand. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Riku! Are you a Keyblade wielder too?”

Riku shook her hand, but glanced at Sora with a look on his face that made Sora hear Donald yell “World order!” in his head. 

“She guessed we were from another world,” he said, putting his hands behind his head. “We couldn’t exactly hide it.”

Riku nodded and looked back to Ariel. “It’s wonderful to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you and your music.”

Ariel flushed a little at the compliment. “Oh, I hope what you heard was good!”

Riku gave her a small smile. “I heard it’s beautiful.” 

Ariel blushed harder and Sora narrowed his eyes at them. _Riku and his good looks…_

“Well, I wish I could give you a demonstration,” Ariel said, “but I have to be getting back to my husband. I was here visiting my family, but I was just about to leave.”

“We could go with you!” Sora said. “I only ever saw Prince Eric at your wedding. I’d love to be able to meet him one-on-one.”

“Oh, would you?” Ariel asked, clearly delighted by the idea. “I thought you were here on vacation though? Don’t you want to stay and see more of Atlantica?”

Sora glanced at Riku. “We were going to go check out the castle…”

Riku shrugged. “We can always come back after we escort you,” he said. “Is where you’re going far?”

“Oh no, not at all!” Ariel said and she raised her hand and pointed. “All I’m really doing is going up.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Riku said.

Sora nodded. “Alright, let’s go!”

As they swam up towards the surface, Sora caught Ariel up on his adventures. “...anyway, long story short, I have my physical form back!”

“Well, that’s very fortunate!” Ariel said with a sweet laugh. “I’m glad Riku was there to save you.”

Riku snorted, which made Sora pout. “Hey, it wasn’t all him! I had to do a whole lot to get my form back together before he showed up in Quadratum! We just had to pool our strength to get home is all!”

Ariel laughed her sweet laugh again and smiled at Sora. “You know, I’ve been pretty busy too. Actually, there’s something I really want to show you when we reach the surface.”

“Really?” Sora said, eyes sparkling in anticipation. “What is it?”

“You’ll see when we get there.” Ariel teased.

“Aw, no fair!”

When they reached the surface, Prince Eric was standing on the shore on a secluded beach, holding bundles of cloth. Ariel waved to him as they broke through the water and swam toward him excitedly. But instead of meeting him on the shore, she diverted to some rocks at the edge of the beach. Eric met her there and handed her one of the cloth bundles once she’d settled on one of the larger rocks. She slipped the cloth over her head, revealing a white dress with a sailor collar. 

Once Ariel had the dress on, her tail shimmered, and when the light cleared, she had human legs. Eric took her hand and helped her off the rocks. He placed a pair of slippers on the sand, and Ariel slid her newly-formed feet into them. They kissed and he handed her the other cloth bundle.

Sora and Riku let the tide wash them up to the shore and waited as Eric and Ariel approached them.

Eric raised an eyebrow. “Friends of yours?” he asked Ariel.

Ariel smiled. “Yes, this is Sora and Riku. Sora helped Atlantica when it was overrun with those Heartless monsters.”

“Oh, that Sora!” Eric’s face lit up and he squatted down to Sora’s level and extended his hand. “It’s great to finally meet you.”

“Great to meet you too!” Sora said, returning the handshake. “I was at the wedding, but I unfortunately couldn’t stay for long.”

“Sounds like you’re a pretty busy guy,” Eric said.

Sora laughed and scratched his head. “Sometimes. Right now I’m on vacation with Riku. He’s my best friend.”

Eric and Riku shook hands and Ariel sat down to join them, still holding the cloth bundle.

“Ready for the surprise, Sora?” she asked.

“Yes!” Sora cheered and Riku chuckled.

“I have to admit I’m curious too,” he said.

Ariel started to unwrap the bundle. Sora and Riku leaned forward and watched as a chubby face surrounded by fine, dark hair emerged.

Sora gasped in delight and shock. “Ariel! Is this…?”

“Sora, Riku, meet Melody, my daughter.”

Sora reached toward Melody immediately and then snatched his hand back. “Oh, can I…?”

“You want to hold her?” Ariel asked, smiling.

“Yeah…” he said, his eyes fixed on the baby. Ariel handed Melody to him, and his face immediately melted. “She’s so beautiful, Ariel…” He held her close to his chest, feeling tears gathering behind his eyes. He blinked a few times, trying to keep them from falling, but only succeeded in letting a few drops slide down his cheeks.

Riku leaned over to get a better look at Melody. She was waving her chubby fists, transfixed by Sora. She reached out and touched one of the tears slowly dripping down his face. Riku chuckled and whispered “You’re such a sap,” to Sora under his breath.

Sora flushed and looked up at Riku, his eyes now red rimmed. “I’d punch you, but I’m holding a baby.” He said, pouting. 

Riku laughed softly and reached over to wave a finger at Melody. She reached up and captured it immediately, dragging it toward her mouth. 

“Oh,” Riku said, surprised by her dexterity. She gummed at the tip of his finger. He gave her a watery smile.

“Now who’s a sap?” Sora whispered back.

Riku blushed a little too. “You know, I’d punch you, but you’re holding a baby.”

“Looks like she’s hungry,” Eric said.

“Oh, yeah. She probably wants to see her mom, huh?” Sora said, reluctantly holding Melody out to Ariel. 

Ariel smiled at Sora as she took Melody back. “Sora, you can come visit her any time. There’s a palace just beyond the hills that enclose this beach. It’s where I live now. Just find Sebastian or Flounder and let them know you want to see me. They’ll get a message to me and we’ll come say hello.”

“Could I come visit you at the palace too?” Sora asked, hands balled into fists.

Ariel laughed. “If you can get yourself some legs, I don’t see why not.”

Sora tapped his chin, “I think I might know a way.”

“Just so long as you don’t make any deals with any sea witches.” Ariel said, and she and Sora smiled at one another.

Riku and Sora waved to Ariel and Eric as they left and let the tide wash them back out.

“Ready to go see the castle?” Sora asked, diving underwater.

Riku followed close behind. “Let’s go.”

*

After an hour or two of seeing the castle and running into Ariel’s various sisters (all of whom, Sora noted with annoyance, fawned over Riku), they decided to return to the Gummiship and get some sleep before they departed for the next world.

“How far are we from the ship?” Riku asked well into their journey back.

“Uh, probably about a five minute swim. Why?”

“Bet I can make it in three,” Riku said and took off.

“Wha-- hey!” Sora cried and raced after him.

Sora won, again relying on his slighter size to bob and weave through underwater obstacles. He emerged from the pool in the cave behind the waterfall, cheering with glee.

“I did it! We’re 2-0 today!”

He could hear Riku’s answering laughter from under the water. Riku surfaced under the waterfall, adding to the water already sluicing off his hair and body, tracing muscles and divots and taut abs and—. Sora forced his brain to stop following the trails of the water sliding down Riku’s body and looked into his eyes instead. Riku was giving him a bemused smile.

“You alright, Sora?” He asked, dipping his head so he could look Sora directly in the eyes.

Sora scrambled to answer. “Yeah! Fine! Why?”

“You didn’t say anything when I conceded that you were the better swimmer. Usually you’d be jumping for joy. Or whatever the merman version of that is, anyway.”

Sora laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. We did a lot of swimming today. Guess I’m just tired.”

Riku nodded. “Right. Wanna change us back and get to bed?”

“Yeah. Sounds great.”

Sora reversed his own transformation, gave Riku some grief by insisting on taking pictures, and reversed Riku’s transformation so they could board the ship. Sora lay in his bunk that night, eyes open wide and mind racing long after he heard Riku’s breathing even out. He had a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm going to try and update this fic weekly. If it's been a week-ish and it hasn't updated, feel free to remind me. Gently. ;)
> 
> For the next chapter, we'll be going to a word full of monsters and mayhem. The incomparable [Yagi's](https://twitter.com/technicolor_ram) art will have to act as a teaser for now...
> 
> Please feel free to come say hello on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/mizunotic)! I'm always happy to talk KH/Soriku.


	2. Monstropolis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora and Riku visit Mike and Sulley at Monsters Inc., put on a comedy routine, and get uncomfortably close more than once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 2! Time for Monsters Inc. shenanigans! 
> 
> And reiterating that you should check out [Yagi's gorgeous art for this chapter](https://twitter.com/technicolor_ram/status/1372985153602138113)! Go like and retweet!

Sora leaned over Riku’s shoulder as he messed with the controls. 

“Okay, yeah, just like that. Land slowly. We don’t wanna shake the building and give everyone inside a heart attack.” Sora said. He hovered just over Riku’s left shoulder, mentally reminding himself to peer out the front window instead of at Riku’s arms.

“So you said this place is called ‘Monsters, Inc.’?” Riku asked, face screwed up in concentration. “Do they make monsters here or something?”

Sora chuckled and leaned further forward. “No, they _are_ monsters here.”

Riku’s hand slipped off the break and the Gummiship plopped down on top of the building. Sora couldn’t tell if it shook the building, but it definitely rocked the ship, and the impact threw him straight onto Riku’s lap. 

Riku grunted as he landed. Sora yelped and flailed his arms, trying to grab onto something solid and unmoving. His hands only managed to find Riku’s jacket, which he pulled sideways, nearly hauling Riku right out of his seat. Riku grabbed the back of the seat with a choked gasp as his collar was tugged tight against his throat.

They sat there for a moment in silence, waiting for any aftershocks. Sora, the embarrassment setting in, tried to pitch himself forward and off Riku’s lap but mostly just succeeded in wiggling around uselessly.

“Sora,” Riku said, sounding winded. “Go the other way.”

“R-right,” Sora said. “Of course.”

Riku got his hands underneath him and helped him slide backwards and into a standing position. 

“Thanks, Riku,” Sora said, extremely embarrassed and mentally assessing any unwanted physical reactions that may have occurred. He adjusted his pants accordingly when Riku wasn’t looking.

“So did you say there are monsters here? Like, Heartless and Nobodies?” Riku said, pushing himself to his feet with an obvious sway. He used the pilot chair to steady himself.

“No, actually. The last time I was here there were Unversed. But that’s not what I mean. I meant the people here are just monsters. Didn’t I send you pictures of me, Donald, and Goofy as monsters? I was gray and furry, and Goofy was green and--”

Riku’s face went blank. “--had awful eye stalks popping out of his head. Yeah, thanks for reminding me. I’m glad I’m not here with him. At least your form was kind of cute.”

“Cute?! I was like-- a dinosaur! I had spikes and a tail!! How can that be…” Sora’s mind caught up with what Riku had just called him. “...cute?” He said, finishing lamely as his face heated up. He turned quickly and marched toward the exit.

“Anyway!” He said loudly, purposefully not looking at Riku as they exited the ship. “You have to look like a monster to fit in here, so I need to do magic on you again.”

“Oh, okay.” Riku said. “Ready when you are.”

Sora turned, an eyebrow raised. “You’re not going to give me grief about it this time?”

“Credit where credit’s due,” Riku said, palms up in acceptance. “You did a great job last time. I’m excited to see what you do.”

Sora couldn’t help the grin that broke out across his face. “Okay then! Let’s see what I can do!” He rubbed his hands together as he looked Riku over. Riku stood there with a small smile on his face, and Sora felt the awful flutter of butterflies in his stomach.

“Okay, let’s try... Ooh, I have a great idea!” Sora said. He approached Riku, drew a circle of light in the air, and cast it down.

Riku’s body shimmered for a moment, light engulfing his form. In a snap it disappeared and Sora screamed internally.

 _Oh shit,_ he thought. _I did it again._

Unlike Sora, who retained at least his jacket in monster form, Riku wasn’t wearing anything. His torso and upper arms were tinted yellow, and when Sora squinted, he could tell it was a fine layer of fur. His forearms and hands were blue and now ended in claws. His bottom half started as the same color blue and transitioned into a purple over his thighs and calves down to his new deer hooves. The transition from the yellow of his torso and the blue of his legs was shaped like a low V; it rode high on his hips, but low under his stomach.

Sora gulped. He traced up to Riku’s face, which had taken on a bat-like visage with a pointed nose and fangs peeking out from his upper lip. His face was also covered in yellow fur, except for the pink arrow between his eyes and over his nose. His hair was the same color and length, but two large purple and blue bat ears poked out from underneath it on each side of his head. And on his back were two pink wings with yellow sparkles glimmering inside them.

Riku was looking down at his hands and legs, twisting around to see the wings on his back. “Sora, oh my God.” He said, a little breathless. “You made me a Komory Bat!” He looked back to Sora and grinned widely; wider, Sora was sure, than he had in awhile. “It’s amazing!”

Riku twisted around to try and touch his wings, and Sora caught a glimpse of something on his back. As Riku continued to inspect his new form, Sora inched behind him to confirm what he saw.

On Riku’s back, wings looped through each side of the heart, was the dream eater symbol. 

Sora put his face in his hands and sighed. _I am so embarrassing,_ he thought.

While Riku continued to admire his new form, Sora drew the circle of light above himself and changed into his monster form. He looked at his newly formed claws and tugged on his collar to make sure he was still wearing his jacket. He was going to drop dead of embarrassment if he accidentally transformed himself without some sort of clothing left. 

When he looked up to see if Riku was done examining himself, he found Riku staring at him instead.

“Whoa.” Riku said.

“What?” Sora asked, suddenly self-conscious. “You’ve seen pictures of me.”

“I know,” Riku said, “but it’s different in real life.”

Riku approached him and held out a claw, which he gently ran over the fur on Sora’s cheek. Sora’s body went hot, but he was pretty sure his blush couldn’t be seen through his gray fur.

“I’m a little afraid to use these,” Riku said, tapping Sora’s cheek with one of his claws. “But you look so much like a cat that I wanna scratch your chin or something. Actually, you kind of remind me of Meow Wow. Is that why you made me look like a Komory Bat?”

Sora’s mind went blank. Riku wanted to touch him?

“Uh,” Sora said smartly. “Sure.”

“Nice,” Riku said, trailing a single claw under Sora’s chin. He grinned, tipping Sora’s chin upward. “I wonder if you’d purr like a cat.”

“Huh?” Sora said, staring up into Riku’s eyes, his mind still not functioning.

“Aw, hell,” Riku said. “I’m going to try.” And he gently started scratching Sora’s chin.

Every bit of fur on Sora’s body bristled. He shivered in sudden and intense pleasure, and his eyes slipped shut. The feeling of Riku’s new claws softly brushing over his chin was absolute bliss.

“Whoa,” Riku said quietly. “You’re really purring!”

Sora opened his eyes a fraction and saw Riku grinning down at him. Somewhere, deep down, Sora knew he should be horribly embarrassed, but the sensation was intoxicating. How did Riku scratching his chin make him so blissfully happy? He wanted to question it, wanted to pull away, but something kept him there, a loud rumble in his chest and his tail sticking straight up.

“Cute,” Riku said, still grinning, completely unaware of how it was affecting Sora. 

Sora gazed up at Riku, the skin under the fur hot and his eyes practically clouded with hearts. He heard another rumble in his chest, and somewhere in the back of his mind he was horrified to hear it sound like an affectionate meow. Without thinking, he pushed forward into Riku’s space and started rubbing his cheek against his shoulder and neck.

“Sora?” Riku said, his body going still. “What are you doing?”

But Sora barely heard, his fuzzy brain sending signals that simply read as “Riku warm” and “feels good.”

“Uh, okay, Sora. You’re just messing with me, right?” Riku said, pushing gently at Sora’s shoulders. He didn’t budge. “Sora?”

Suddenly Sora’s brain sent him another heady signal. He stuck out his tongue and licked a stripe across Riku’s collarbone.

“Yeeeeaaaahhhhuhhhmmmmokaaaay, that’s enough, Sora.” Riku said, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him back.

Sora was jerked out of his reverie and he looked up at Riku, blinking in confusion. The first thing he noticed was that he could definitely see Riku blush through his fur. The second was that he had just licked Riku.

“Oh wow,” Sora wheezed, backing up further out of Riku’s grasp. “I am so sorry, Riku! I don’t know why I did that! It was like… like instinct?”

Riku laughed awkwardly, putting down his hands and crossing them over his chest. “Not a problem! Maybe you are part cat after all?”

“I-I guess so!” Sora tried to say cheerily, but the atmosphere was already clouded with awkwardness and hormones. “Why don’t we go inside?”

“Good plan.” Riku said.

Sora used his magic to scale down the building, while Riku fluttered down next to him. By the time they reached the ground, the air had cleared.

“So those really work, huh?” Sora said, gesturing to Riku’s wings. “I guess I made them big enough?”

Riku shrugged, but smiled. “Yeah, I mean, when I fused with my Dream Eaters, the wings they gave me were small, but they still worked pretty well. I could only really hover, but I moved pretty fast.”

“Right, I remember you telling me,” Sora said, walking towards the front door. He peered inside and saw that the building was full of monsters he’d never seen before. “Oh, I guess they’re open right now.”

“Can we still go in?” Riku said, peering over Sora’s head.

“I think s— Oh, there’s Mike and Sulley!” Sora cut himself off, and was pushing through the double doors before he even finished his thought. Riku followed, shaking his head.

“Mike! Sulley!” Sora called, dodging between other monsters carrying briefcases and folders. He very nearly tripped what looked like a pink dragon with three tails who was carrying a precarious amount of coffees on a takeout try. Sora managed to right both the dragon, the coffee, and himself before any of them hit the floor. 

“Sora?” Sulley asked, stopping in the middle of the lobby. “What’re you doing here?”

“I’m on vacation and visiting with my best friend, Riku!” Sora said, whipping around to check Riku was still behind him. He grinned and Riku smiled uneasily at the two monsters. 

“Nice to meet you,” Riku said. Mike reached out and grabbed his hand, which Riku had not offered.

“Any friend of Sora’s is a friend of ours!” Mike said cheerfully, completely missing the look of revulsion on Riku’s face at being touched by a giant green eyeball. “What’s the occasion for the vacation?”

“Just some time off from our usual duties.” Sora said, smiling smugly at Riku as if to say ‘See, I didn’t give away anything about the World Order.’ Riku narrowed his eyes but said nothing to him.

“Yeah, Sora wanted to take me to some places he’d been recently that I hadn’t yet,” Riku said instead, shaking Sulley’s hands with slightly less horror. “Are you busy? It looks like we showed up in the middle of a work day.”

“Well, not really,” Sulley admitted. “We’re here, we’re working, but we’re not doing much right now.”

“Can we bother you for a real factory tour then?” Sora asked, fists clenched in excitement. “Last time I was here, I didn’t exactly get to see how everything worked without weird creatures gumming up the works.”

Sulley laughed. “I don’t see why not.”

“Great!” Sora said, pumping his fists. “Riku, you’re gonna love this place!”

Mike and Sulley lead them through the facility. Mike was especially proud of their joint office. 

“We’re very hands on, though,” he said, as they were walking out. “Rarely get to actually use the thing. I miss that mini fridge all the time.”

As they entered the control room, Sora excitedly pointed out where he’d done battle with the Unversed. 

“And this is the computer I tried to smash!” Sora said proudly.

“What’s with you and smashing computers?” Riku asked.

“I don’t know, but I think it’s somehow Roxas’ fault.”

“Sounds about right.”

When they got to the Scare Floor, Sora bounded into the room, dodging workers in hardhats. 

“This is where we dealt with Vanitas. Sulley was amazing! He picked him and threw him through a door, and then threw that door through a door, and just kept going!”

“Let’s just say we’ve had to use that move a few times before,” said Sulley.

“And since!” Mike added.

“You know, I never really got to actually use one of these things the last time I was here. Do you think Riku and I could give it a test run?” Sora asked, tapping on the door closest to him.

Mike and Sulley looked at each other. “Well, it usually involves a lot of training…” Sulley said.

“Oh…” Sora said, visibly wilting. 

“But I guess we can let you guys give it a try after some quick pointers…” Sulley finished. 

“Really?!” Sora gasped, perking right back up. “We’ll do exactly what you say!”

“What do we need to do?” Riku asked.

“Well, ya see, when Sulley and I took over, we started collecting laughter instead of screams,” Mike explained. “Turns out laughter is a much more effective fuel. So instead of scaring kids, now we tell jokes or goof around to get them laughing.”

“Making kids laugh shouldn’t be that hard,” Sora said, putting his hands behind his head.

“Depends on the audience,” Mike said with a shrug. “But you do have to be careful. Scaring was usually a one and done thing. You get in, scare ‘em, and get out. But with laughter, sometimes you gotta work up to it. Establish rapport, get a good back and forth going.”

“What Mike is trying to say,” Sulley said, shaking his head, “is that it might take a little longer, so there’s an increased risk of getting caught. You can’t be too loud, because the parents might come check on them. You can’t stick around and make them laugh too long, because the parents will definitely come in and tell them to go to sleep. You’ve got to time it right.”

“But if you do hear a parent coming, all ya gotta do is wave goodbye, grab the door handle, and jump back through.” Mike finished. “If you’re nervous, just stay close to the door. You just can’t freeze, or the jig is up.”

“Make sense,” Sora said. “Make them laugh, don’t take too long, bail if the parents show up. I think we can do that. Right, Riku?”

Riku smiled at Sora. “I think so.”

“Great! Any other questions?” Mike asked as he turned to the closest terminal and started tapping at buttons.

“The door will stay in place, right?” Riku asked as the door conveyor belt started moving over their heads. “It’s not possible to get stuck over there, right?”

“Nope,” Sulley said, pointing up at a mint green door directly above them. It lowered and slotted into the terminal Mike was working at. Mike hit one last button and a light lit up above the door. “This machine locks the door in place so it can’t move until you come back through. There are fail safes in place just in case the terminal malfunctions or the power gets cut. You’re in good hands.”

“Good to know,” Riku said and looked at Sora. “Got your bad jokes ready?”

Sora scoffed. “Look who’s talking. I don’t think I’ve heard you make a funny joke in your life.”

“Ready boys?” Mike asked, finger hovering over a button.

“Yeah, let’s do it!” Sora said, practically crouched to dive in as soon as the door opened.

“Good luck!” Sulley said as Riku and Sora dashed through.

*

Out of the door, Sora barrel-rolled into the bedroom and landed on his knees, arms spread wide “Ta DA!” He said, grinning ear to ear.

There was a soft gasp and a little boy sat up in bed. “Wh-who are you?”

“We’re some friendly monsters who came for a visit!” Sora said, a little too loudly.

Riku punched him in the arm. “Quiet, remember?”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Sora said, lowering his voice. “I’m Sora, and this is Riku.”

“You look like a cat,” the little boy said.

Riku snorted. 

“Shut up,” Sora said and punched him back. 

The little boy giggled. “You’re funny.”

“That we are!” Sora said, and leaned over to pick up some small toys off the floor, which he started juggling. “Hey, why did the chicken cross the road?”

“Oh! ‘To get to the other side’, right?” The boy said.

“That’s what I thought!” Sora said, moving around the room as he juggled. “But I asked the chicken and he said it was none of my business.”

The little boy threw his head back and laughed gleefully. “No you didn’t!” He insisted.

“I sure did,” Sora said. “He’s a rude chicken.”

The little boy giggled behind his hands. 

“Riku, toss me something else!” Sora instructed, turning back to him.

“Uh, like what?”

“Whatever you want!”

Riku scanned the floor beneath him and found a small sneaker. He picked it up and lobbed it towards Sora who grabbed it and quickly added it to his rostering of rotating items. 

“Whoa!” The little boy said. “How’d you do that?”

“Simple,” Riku said, reaching down and picking up a short, plastic baseball bat. “He went to clown college.”

The little boy giggled and Sora stuck out his tongue at Riku. “I don’t see you doing anything impressive.”

Riku shrugged, tilted his head back, and started trying to balance the toy on his flattened bat nose.

Sora nearly dropped the toys he was juggling with the effort it took to keep him from laughing. “Riku, oh wow…” Sora said, wheezing.

The little boy squealed and laughed delightedly. “Whoa, did you both go to clown college?”

Not able to hold back, Sora laughed at the little boy’s innocent question and dropped the toys he was juggling. They hit the ground with a loud clatter and everyone, including the little boy, froze.

“Jimmy!” Came a loud voice from outside the room. “What did I tell you about staying up and playing?”

“Uh, that’s our cue!” Sora said. “Nice to meet you, Jimmy!” He dashed over to Riku, grabbed his hand, and pushed him into the closet. But instead of tumbling out onto the Scare Floor, Sora felt himself smash into Riku as he closed the closet door behind him.

“What the--?” Sora asked, tripping over something on the floor. Before he could fall, he flailed blindly and grabbed Riku’s shoulder, hanging on for dear life. One of his feet went out from under him anyway, though it very quickly hit a vertical surface, which Sora planted his foot firmly against. “What’s happe—?” He started, but was cut off by Riku’s claws curling over his mouth.

“Shh!” Riku hissed, his mouth surprisingly close to Sora’s ear. “You opened the wrong door.”

“Wrong door?” Sora asked quietly, his words muffled against Riku’s hand.

“There were two closets in that kid’s room. You opened the wrong one and—”

A woman’s voice cut Riku off. “Honestly, Jimmy, look at this mess!”

“But momma, it wasn’t me! It was the monsters!”

“Sure it was,” his mother replied. Sora could hear her walk around the room towards Jimmy’s bed. “You’re going to have to clean this up in the morning!”

“Aww…!” 

Jimmy and his mother began talking quietly, and Sora had to strain to hear them. 

Riku removed his hand from Sora’s mouth and whispered. “Don’t move. We’ll wait until they’re done and then leave after the mom does, okay?”

“Okay,” Sora whispered back.

They stilled and waited, but Jimmy and his mother were clearly having a discussion. Sora tried moving the foot pinned against the wall, but found he couldn’t; he’d hooked his knee over something and couldn’t get free without sending himself tumbling towards the ground. His other foot was dangling and couldn’t reach the floor to give him any leverage. He swung it a little, trying to see if he could hit the ground with the tips of his toes, but whatever his other leg was wedged against didn’t have much give.

“Can you stop wiggling?” Riku hissed in his ear. “That’s my leg you’re using as a jungle gym.”

Sora felt the color drain from his face. “Huh?”

“There isn’t much room in here, and your leg is over mine.” Riku wiggled his thigh a little, and sure enough Sora felt the vertically trapped leg shake. 

“S-sorry.”

“Just stay still.”

Sora’s body was frozen, but his mind was running a mile a minute. One leg hooked over Riku’s thigh, his other leg dangling uselessly on the other side—he was practically sitting in Riku’s lap! He’d grabbed onto Riku’s shoulder in his confusion, so that meant his other hand… He moved it around from where he’d originally rested it. Yep, flush against Riku’s pec. Great. He wanted to just melt onto the floor and slink away in puddle form.

Sora sighed and let his head fall forward onto Riku’s shoulder. If he was going to be trapped here for a while, he figured he might as well enjoy it. Riku’s short fur was so soft, and he felt the need to rub his cheek against it and bury his face in his collar. There was something just so comforting about being held like this, even if it was in an incredibly awkward position and he was pretty sure his leg would fall asleep soon.

 _Fall asleep…_ Sora thought, his eyelids fluttering. _It’s so warm… I wanna fall asleep…_ He let his instincts take over and buried his face into Riku’s shoulder. 

The next thing he knew, Riku was covering his mouth with one set of claws and roughly pulling the scruff of his neck with the other. Sora gave a muffled yelp, which he tried to cut short. In his attempt to cut himself off, his head reared back too far and knocked into something. Whatever it was clattered against the opposite wall and fell to the ground.

There was a moment of dead silence. And then—

“What was that?” Asked Jimmy’s mom.

Sora and Riku looked at one another in terror. Jimmy’s mother started to cross the room towards the closet, and with each footstep, Sora could feel his heart pounding louder and louder in his ears. She reached the door and grabbed the handle, making it rattle on the inside.

“Uh, it, uh…” Jimmy said nervously, “it was probably just some of my toys falling...! H-how about I clean them up tomorrow when I clean the rest of my room?”

There was another moment of dead silence. Sora squeezed his eyes shut, hoping if Jimmy’s mother did open the door, he could tap into a latent disappearance power he didn’t know he had as a monster.

Jimmy’s mother broke the silence. “Oh, Jimmy! That would be lovely! You’re becoming such a grown up!” She turned and walked away from the closet.

Sora and Riku let out matching, silent sighs of relief.

After a couple minutes of Jimmy’s mother coddling him with praises of “being so grown up,” she kissed him loudly and left his room, closing the door behind her. 

With another silent sigh, Riku grabbed the door handle and pushed it open. He grabbed Sora’s waist and lifted him completely off his thigh, placing him on the outside of the closet door. 

Sora, his face flushed from the million scenarios that instantly appeared in his head from how easily Riku lifted him, thought I don’t even want to think the obvious coming out joke here.

Riku followed behind him and they both looked at Jimmy, who was covering his mouth with his hands, giggling.

Sora couldn’t help but smile at him. “That was some fast thinking, Jimmy. Thanks for saving us! We owe you one!”

Jimmy moved his hands and grinned. “Yep, I’m pretty smart!” He whispered and giggled again. “Will you guys come visit again?”

“Of course!” Sora whispered back, pumping his fists. “We’re friends now!” He grabbed the knob of the correct door and opened it to see Mike and Sulley watching the door expectantly on the other side. “See you later!” He grabbed Riku’s wrist and pulled him through the door.

*

Both boys staggered back onto the Scare Floor. Sora closed the door behind him and sank to the ground.

“Rough go?” Mike asked. 

Sora laughed weakly from his spot on the floor. “You could say that. But we made it back in one piece.”

Riku chuckled quietly and Sora looked up at him. Even he looked a little droopy, and usually Riku was unflappable.

Sulley extended a hand to Sora. “What do you say to getting some lunch?” He asked.

Sora smiled and let Sulley pull him up. “I say that sounds great. Right, Riku?” He turned to Riku, who returned his grin.

“Yeah, it sounds perfect.”

*

After Sulley and Mike treated them to lunch, Sora and Riku thanked them and left to wander the facility. Boo was going to visit that evening, and Sora insisted they stick around so Riku could meet her.

“Hey, Riku?” Sora asked, hands laced behind his head as they watched some workers in hard hats hustle by. “Why did you cover my mouth when I fell asleep when we were in the closet?” He inwardly cringed at his wording.

“You were falling asleep?” Riku asked, looking up from where he was watching a troupe of three inch tall monsters carry a single bucket down the hallway. “I didn’t know you were falling asleep, but I covered your mouth because you started purring again. I guess you got pretty comfortable, huh?”

Sora dropped his hands from behind his head in shock. “This monster body will not stop betraying me…” he whispered.

“What was that?” Riku asked, looking over his shoulder. He’d walked a few steps ahead while Sora was rooted to the spot in shame.

“Nothing,” Sora said, sighing heavily and turning to follow him, but he stopped just as suddenly as he started when he got his first good luck at Riku’s ass in monster form. It wasn’t exactly common for him to see Riku without pants, but of course his backside looked amazing, even if it was covered in yellow fur.

Sora slapped his cheeks a couple of times and hurried to catch up, making sure he walked in front of Riku.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about this chapter: I've only ever seen Monsters University!
> 
> Come [scream about Soriku with me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/mizunotic) because I love screaming about Soriku with people!!


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